Well, here we go, another story on our little OC gang. I'm not all that sure how this one will turn out, but it is based before The Padawan Mission, compassing the time two weeks before the light sabre tournament, and maybe a little while afterwards. This will be mostly about my little gang meeting and getting together, and the relations between my Padawans and their Masters.
As always, feel free to correct any inaccuracies, of which I am sure there are plenty. Just a bit of a warning, I am completely making up the process of Padawan acceptance, and I'm making up the katas, and if something I've written is wrong and it's bugging you, please tell me and I'll fix it up, if I can.
Disclaimer: I do not own Star Wars. I do, however, own Corrie, Lolee Arak, Crawen, Macu and Jonah, as well as a few randoms that pop up…
That was an awfully long A/N…here's the story!
PADAWAN LIGHT SABRE TOURNAMENT-TWO WEEKS
Eligible competitors who wish to be in the competition
must sign up with Master Windu
Arak's eyes widened considerably. Two weeks…that was close. That was too close. She couldn't train up for the most important competition of her younger life, not in two weeks! Biting her lower lip very nervously, she glanced around the hallway. No other people her age seemed to be around. The other 'eligible competitors' were nowhere to be seen. A hand suddenly rested on her shoulder. Arak looked up at Master Windu as he smiled.
"Will you be signing up?" he 'asked'. It was obvious he was expecting her to say yes. Arak was top of her class.
Licking her lips compulsively, she nodded slowly. "I-I think so, Master Windu."
The light sabre tutor smiled and nodded. "You will do well, I'm sure."
As he walked away, Arak's eyes popped. Had he just insinuated…did he just imply…did he want her for an Apprentice? Shaking her head, Arak banished the thought from her head. Of course he hadn't, it was just her mind going into nervous overdrive. She began to move off, weaving through the Jedi in the halls in her scurrying fashion, thinking furiously. The next two weeks would be terrible. Knowing that potential masters were watching, all of the would-be Padawans would be suspicious of the others, showing off at every available opportunity, and the Masters would surely be distant and aloof for a while, not letting on their preferences. Tension would run high. Arak absolutely hated that kind of environment.
Grimacing, she walked in the direction of the Gardens. They were usually quiet at this time of day, allowing for uninterrupted practice. She needed to practice if she was going to perform well in the tournament, and it wasn't like she had anyone to tell. She was a bit too shy to have made any great friendships, and she didn't really want to let on what she was planning for the Tournament. She may be mild mannered, but for some reason that she had not yet fully figured out, Arak found her centre in the light sabre. She was skittish and nervous around people, she had no real relations with anyone, but with the light sabre, nothing could go wrong unless she herself did it. Or something like that. Her philosophical mind was running on those kind of lines. In any case, she was closer to her weapon than she was to anyone else in the Temple, that was for sure.
As she drew her sabre, she inhaled deeply, centring herself, casting her mind to the III Form Kata that she was hoping to master in time for the competition. Drawing her blade through the air quickly, she moved quickly, cleaving air with every swing, suddenly drawing to a halt, swinging from side to side, before quickly setting off again.
The third form kata was difficult to master. The first was mainly defensive, the second mainly offensive. The third form kata was a mainly offensive form, introducing a very tiring, but very effective technique of stopping and starting, confusing the opponent.
She had it memorised, that was the easy part. She could complete most of the kata fluidly, with no stops, but for the bits she was practicing then. After that, it was only practice, getting it so firmly in her head, that she could attack and respond without thought. The process came to her naturally, and the focus it required, the slight detachment from reality that allowed her to react to her opponent as though they weren't actually there, all of it.
As she moved, however, something caught her eye, distracting her from her work. An all too familiar Iktotchi face peered at her from over the top of a book beside the fountain. As much as she hated to admit it, there was more than one reason Arak liked to practice in the Gardens. As soon as Crawen Tu Darchi saw that she had seen him, he flinched away, looking back to his book. Feeling a blush rise in her cheeks, Arak curled her lekku and returned to her practice, a small smile playing on her features. Crawen had liked what he had seen.
Taking a strong step forward, Macu threw his sabre up to catch the blow before quickly changing direction and striking back very strongly. The girl he faced was only slightly shorter than him, a tall, slender human with tan skin and thick, black curls that swung around her face and neck as she spun, dodging and turning away Macu's sabre. Her full lips curved into a proud smile, as she launched into another attack.
"You're going to have to do better than that, Rocktor." she taunted, but her green eyes were focussed and determined, and a sheen of sweat covered her face. She was working hard.
Sending another wave of intense blows at Jonah, Macu worked on tiring her down more, but she was very good, was Jonah. Their fight had already been going for a fair while. They were fairly evenly matched, and although they didn't really speak, as such, they were sparring buddies. They saw each other every so often, seeking the other out to arrange a practice session.
Seeing an opening in Jonah's most recent onslaught, Macu jumped in and delivered a burn to the human's exposed neck.
Giving a laugh, Jonah flicked her sabre off, reaching out for a towel. "Good match, Macu."
Smiling at the girl, Macu nodded and turned off his own weapon. It had been a good match. And he wasn't just saying that because he had won.
Two other girls that had appeared sometime in the match stood up, one of them chatting excitedly to Jonah as she patted her face dry, the other nodding every now and then. The nodding girl was Reeka, another human, with long, soft, blonde hair and baby blue eyes. She was very quiet, but she seemed nice. The other girl, however, well, Rags was mon calamari, and she talked way too much, but Jonah seemed to like her. Rags was actually called Ragasin, but no-one used her real name. That was just about all Macu knew about her. He tried to distance himself from loud people.
Either way, they were Jonah's friends, not his, and it was none of his business who she chose to hang out with. As he turned to leave, however, a boy walked past.
He was short for his age, and his form was muscular, but small. His constantly laughing green eyes twinkled and his thin lipped mouth was always pulled into a smile. His black hair was fluffy and spiky, sticking out every which way, giving an apt rendition of the human as a whole; wild and uncontrollable. Unfortunately, Macu knew all about Coronarcher Soline. That grinning mouth held an all too quick tongue, and that head a deceptively intelligent, immature brain.
Jonah had obviously seen him too. She smiled brightly and there was genuine joy in her eyes as she watched him march purposefully by. Force, the kid was up to something…
Coronarcher waved to Jonah, and bounced over.
Macu took that as his cue to leave, sending a sneer to the smaller boy as he brushed past.
The humans barely took any notice of him.
Jonah saw Macu out of the corner of her eye, walking away with a sullen look. She felt kind of sorry for him. She didn't know Macu all that well, she didn't think anyone knew Macu, but she must know him better than most. She sparred with him regularly, and had done for years, but that was their only contact. Hmm... It was a well-known fact that the Twi'lek and Corrie hated each other with a passion, but her fellow human, for once, didn't make any witty remarks or even try to trip the other. He was too excited. Corrie was on a mission. When he wasn't doing anything in particular, he just went with the flow, but when he was after something, everyone in the Temple knew.
"Jonah, Rags, Reeka, do you know of any potential Masters?" he demanded, eyes sharp.
Exchanging looks with her friends, Jonah shrugged. "I think Master Windu is looking." she said as Rags added, "I heard something about Master Su Bella being on the look out."
Jonah turned back to Corrie, watching as he processed that. He nodded slowly, storing the names in his amazing memory. Jonah had done the same, and now wracked her brains for mentions for potential Masters. The news that the Tournament was on in two weeks had been broken to them an hour or so ago, when Macu and Jonah had immediately had a sparring session. Jonah felt nerves build up at the bottom of her stomach. The sabre wasn't her best asset, and against the likes of the amazing Arak, Lolee-Corrie's rakata friend-and even Corrie himself, she knew she wouldn't get too far. Still, she knew that it wasn't just how well they did in the tournament that got them Apprenticed. The nerves she had beaten down with logic began to grow. She really hoped she'd get picked. She had spent her entire life in the Temple, and she didn't want to waste her life in the Agricorps. This was her one and only chance, and she didn't want to screw it up.
Obviously, Corrie was confidence in clothes, as per usual, and he was just worried about who he might get. Thinking that added nerves about who her Master might be to the small bundle growing in her stomach.
"Hey, Corrie, you've gotta tell us who all of the Masters are!" she ordered. If anyone could find out who was on the lookout, it was Corrie.
He nodded, grinning and gave her a salute, starting to move off. "Give me until this afternoon, I'll give you the list and dinner." he told them, continuing his purposeful walk.
Rolling her eyes at him, she looked over at Reeka and Rags. Reeka had a small smile and a blush on her face, like she did whenever anyone spoke to her, but Rags was also giving Corrie exasperated looks. "Oi, Seline, you could just send it to our datapads!" Rags called after him.
Corrie spun around, walking backwards. "No, I can't. I really can't! Technology retarded, remember?"
Jonah saw it coming, but it was still hilarious to watch Coronarcher spin, straight into Master Obi-Wan.
Corrie gave an overly innocent grin to the Knight.
That seemed to be his defence mechanism. That and wit. Razor sharp wit. Come to think of it, no-one really knew Corrie all that well, either. He was tight with Lolee Marateer, a really strong, scarily fast rakata, and he was often seen with Crawen Tu Darchi, who was a bit of a bookworm, and a little shy and quiet for Jonah. Corrie was a little bit of an enigma. He was funny, and really easy to talk to, but he didn't really reveal too much about himself.
Master Obi-Wan looked down at the boy, crossing his arms and cocking an eyebrow. "Initiate Soline, didn't I send you on an errand?" he asked in his clipped accent.
Corrie nodded. "Yes, you did, sir."
Jonah hid a giggle behind her hand, biting her lip so as not to laugh like Rags was doing, rather uproarously.
"Well, you don't look like you're on your way to Master Hradin to me."
Corrie was about to speak, but the Knight continued speaking. "This isn't a very good way to get the attention of me, or any of the other Masters looking for apprentices."
Their laughter immediately cut short, and Corrie shot the Knight a very surprised look, covering it quickly with mock confusion. "I don't know, Master Obi-Wan, I think it gets your attention very well."
Master Obi-Wan gave Corrie a look and the boy blanched, saluting quickly. "I'm going."
The Knight shook his head and walked away.
That sent them straight back into hysterics again.
So, there's the first chapter. Hmm, a bit different to how the group was in my other story, hey? Well, we'll soon see how it all works out…
When I've finished this story, which could take any amount of time, I am at school at the moment, and playing a lot of cello, so updates are likely to be rather irregular…where was I?...Ah, yes, this story is mainly background information, the first in the series-even though I wrote it second-so I will be looking to my reviewers for requests for later stories in this series. I've put a poll up on my profile, so you can vote on who I should write about next.
Please keep reading!
